Not Fakin' It

Not Fakin' It
Studio album by Michael Monroe
Released	September 1989 (1989-09)
Studio	Atlantic Studios, New York City
Genre	Hard rock glam metal glam punk
Length	39:07
Label	PolyGram
Producer	Michael Monroe, Michael Frondelli
Michael Monroe chronology
Nights Are So Long (1987) Not Fakin' It (1989) Peace of Mind (1996)
Singles from Not Fakin' It
"Dead, Jail or Rock 'n' Roll" / "Shakedown" Released: 1989 [1] "Man with No Eyes" Released: 1989 [2] "She's No Angel" / "Not Fakin' It" Released: 1989 [3] "While You Were Looking at Me" / "Love Is Thicker than Blood" Released: 1990 [4]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Hi-Fi News & Record Review	A:1* [6]

Not Fakin' It is the second studio album by Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe, released in September 1989 through PolyGram; ^[5] a remastered edition was reissued through Lemon Recordings in 2003. The album is Monroe's most commercially successful solo release to date, reaching No. 14 on the Finnish albums chart, ^[7] No. 161 on the U.S. Billboard 200, ^[8] and being certified gold in Japan. ^[7] The single "Man with No Eyes" reached No. 90 on the UK singles chart. ^[9]

The music video for "Dead, Jail or Rock 'n' Roll" featured Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose and received substantial rotation on MTV; it was later covered by the band Warrant for their 2002 album Under the Influence . The track "Angel" is a re-recording of the song "She's No Angel" which had appeared on Monroe's previous album, Nights Are So Long (1987).

Musical style

The albums consists of "Michael Monroe [adding] hair band rock to his usual mix of punk, glam, and '70s heavy metal". ^[5] Ultimate Classic Rock placed the album No. 26 on their list of the Top 30 Glam Metal Albums, and described it as a "glam-punk-'n'-roll hybrid". ^[10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Dead, Jail or Rock 'n' Roll"	Michael Monroe, Little Steven, Nasty Suicide	4:31
2.	"While You Were Looking at Me"	Steven	4:03
3.	"She's No Angel" (Heavy Metal Kids cover)	Gary Holton, Monroe, Stiv Bators	3:52
4.	"All Night with the Lights On"	Monroe, Phil Grande, Danny Lewis	3:52
5.	"Not Fakin' It" (Nazareth cover)	Dan McCafferty, Manny Charlton, Pete Agnew, Darrell Sweet	3:52
6.	"Shakedown"	Monroe, Grande	3:13
7.	"Man with No Eyes"	Monroe, Grande	3:58
8.	"Love Is Thicker than Blood"	Monroe, Martin Briley	4:14
9.	"Smoke Screen"	Monroe, Steven, Suicide	4:05
10.	"Thrill Me"	Monroe, Grande	3:27
Total length:			39:07

Personnel

• Michael Monroe – lead vocals, harmonica, shaker, arrangement (tracks 1, 3–10), producer (tracks 1–3, 9)
• Axl Rose – backing vocals (tracks 1, 5)
• Phil Grande – lead and rhythm guitar (all tracks), arrangement (tracks 4, 6, 7, 10)
• Nasty Suicide – guitar (tracks 1–3)
• Jimmy Ripp – guitar (tracks 1–3, 9), slide guitar (track 1)
• Ed Roynesdal – keyboard, piano (tracks 5, 6)
• Ian Hunter – piano (track 3)
• Anton Fig – drums (tracks 1–3, 9)
• Thommy Price – drums (tracks 4–8, 10)
• Sue Hadjopoulos – percussion (tracks 1, 4, 6–10), tambourine (track 2)
• John Regan – bass (tracks 1–3)
• Kenny Aaronson – bass (tracks 4–10)
• Mark Rivera – saxophone
• Little Steven – backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 5), arrangement (tracks 2, 5, 6, 9)
• Suha Gur – background vocals (track 1)
• Dave Hansen – background vocals (track 1)
• Stephen Innocenzi – background vocals (track 1)
• Brian Sperber – background vocals (track 1), engineering assistance
• Holly Beth Vincent – background vocals (track 2)
• Kim Lesley – background vocals (tracks 4, 6, 9, 10)
• Nicole Hart – background vocals (tracks 4, 6, 9, 10)
• Gennaro – background vocals (tracks 4, 6, 9, 10)
• The Monroettes – background vocals (tracks 7, 8)
• Brian James – arrangement (track 3)
• Martin Briley – arrangement (track 8)

Technical

• Michael Frondelli – engineering, mixing, production
• Will Garrett – engineering
• Rod O'Brien – engineering (tracks 1–3, 9)
• Ellen Fitton – engineering assistance
• Billy Miranda – engineering assistance (tracks 1–3, 9)
• George Marino – mastering
• Frankie "Teardrop" Miles – production assistance
• John Scarpati - cover photography

Charts

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Finnish albums chart [7]	14
Japan Oricon Albums Chart [11]	21
US Billboard 200 [8]	161

References

1. "Michael Monroe - Dead, Jail Or Rock'N'Roll (song)". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
2. "Michael Monroe - Man With No Eyes (song)". finnishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
3. "Michael Monroe – She's No Angel". Discogs. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
4. "Michael Monroe – While You Were Looking At Me". Discogs. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
5. Ginsberg, Geoff. "Not Fakin' It - Michael Monroe". AllMusic . RhythmOne. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
6. "Review: Michael Monroe — Not Fakin' It" (PDF). Hi-Fi News & Record Review (magazine). Vol. 34, no. 12. Croydon: Link House Magazines Ltd. December 1989. p. 145. ISSN   0142-6230. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021– via World Radio History.
7. Väntänen, Ari. "Michael Monroe". Like Kustannus. 2011. ISBN   978-952-01-0528-0.
8. "Not Fakin' It - Michael Monroe | Awards". AllMusic . RhythmOne. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
9. "MICHAEL MONROE songs and albums | full Official Chart history". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
10. Rolli, Bryan (1 July 2021). "Top 30 Glam Metal Albums". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
11. "ノット・フェイキン・イット | マイケル・モンロー". ORICON NEWS. Retrieved 27 January 2023.